The Internship Re:Coded
by Simply Rexene
Summary: A rewrite of my most popular story! Roxas gets a lot more than he bargained for when his film internship turns out to be at a porn studio. Their most famous pornstar? None other than Axel himself.
1. One

**One**

"Asshole!"

Roxas Reed laid on his horn as an idiot in a Solaris pulled out in front of him. Who the fuck even drove a Solaris anymore? He'd already sat through the light cycle three times trying to turn left, and this moron was going to make him miss the arrow once again. He'd never driven through the city before, and it had him completely on edge. Nobody seemed to even acknowledge his existence, blowing by him like they weren't all driving three-ton death machines.

"Oh sure… cut me off! I don't have anywhere to _be_!" His road rage had the best of him, and the heavy metal he was playing at maximum volume wasn't helping calm him down.

"Fuck it all… I'm going to be late…" he growled, glancing over at his GPS and scowling as he realized he was still five minutes away.

As if it wasn't bad enough that the only job he could find out of college was a shitty internship, he was also about to be incredibly late to his first day. When they told him that the film studio was located in the city, it hadn't occurred to him that it meant he would have to drive through the city to get there every day. He grew up in the next town over-all country backroads. In his hometown, people respected a huge pickup truck like his. In the city? The fully loaded Ford F250 might as well have been invisible.

"Fuck!" he yelped as someone nearly merged into his front end, his fist pounding on the horn while he flipped them off. When the GPS finally alerted him that his destination was on the right, he nearly cried out in happiness. "Oh, thank the Lord…"

Though finding a parking spot that he could fit his extended cab truck into was a trip in and of itself. The parking lot was completely full of cars already, since they'd all showed up to work on time, but he managed to find himself a spot in the very back corner of the parking lot. And then there was the long trek from his parking spot to the front door. If he wasn't a good half hour late by now, he would be surprised.

As he approached the front door, he couldn't help but appreciate a cherry red Ferrari parked in the closet possible spot. He had to wonder if he was going to be working with any famous actors on the set. The job description had been incredibly vague on the internet, basically only stating that a film director was in dire need of an assistant. When he applied, they called him the next day and hired him on the spot without so much as an interview. He had …pretty much no idea at all what he was about to walk into.

The building was huge, but it was very nondescript. There weren't any company logos on the outside of the building, just tall white walls with a glass set of front doors. As far as he could tell, there weren't even any windows. Though that was typical for a film studio. The natural lighting would mess with the filming.

He stepped through the first set of glass doors, but was immediately faced with a second set of doors that seemed to be locked. He yanked on them for a second, then pulled out his phone to make sure he was in the right building.

The blond about had a heart attack when a speaker crackled to life beside him. "Hey idiot. You realize there's an intercom on the wall and I've been sitting here waiting for you to tell me why you're here, right?"

Roxas looked up from his phone to see a small blonde girl sitting behind the front desk waving at him with an irritated look on her face.

"You gonna tell me why you're here? Or do I have to get security?"

He reached over and pressed the button on the intercom. "R-right… I'm here for, uhm… my first day of work? I'm supposed to be assisting Director Kane?"

He could hear her scoff without even needing the intercom. "Well shit! You're late! You'd better hope he's in a good mood today."

A loud buzz sounded in the room and he heard the lock click open. He tugged on the door again and it swung open, allowing him to approach the front desk. "I'm sorry I'm late. I'm not used to driving in the city," he muttered sheepishly, hoping he wouldn't get into too much trouble.

"...Right," she said in a bored tone, rolling her eyes. "Xigbar is gonna be pissed, but that's your problem. Here's your badge. It'll unlock the doors for you."

He took the badge from her and glanced around, noticing little black boxes beside all of the doors. Did a film studio really need so much security? "How do I…?"

"You literally just hold it up to the security pad. A monkey could figure it out," she sighed, looking him over. "…You _are_ over 18, right?"

Roxas furrowed his brow and snorted in offense. "I'm 22!"

"...Right. Well, they're in studio seven today. Go through that door there, turn right and it'll be the third door on the left. They're probably already filming, so keep it quiet when you walk in."

"Thank you…" he paused, clearly waiting for her to introduce herself.

"Larxene. If I were you I'd skip the introductions and get your ass in there," she smirked, pointing towards the tall white door that led to the studios.

He nodded, taking off for the door. Luckily the studios were clearly marked, and it wasn't hard for him to figure out where he needed to be. He held his badge up to the security pad and the door clicked open.

However… there was nothing in this world that could have prepared him for what was on the other side.

His jaw dropped nearly to the floor as his eyes settled on the set before him. It was simple, set to look like a modern living room. White walls, little pops of color here and there. And right in the center of the room was a nice, bright red couch. A couch that happened to be occupied by an ass-naked, incredibly tall man with flaming red hair, who was currently plowing a tiny black-haired girl from behind.

Roxas couldn't tear his eyes away from it. It was like… watching a train wreck. Only he was watching this guy with, well… the largest cock he'd ever seen, completely wreck this small girl.

"Holy fuck…" he muttered under his breath, taking a step forward and walking directly into a craft services cart and sending a tray of sandwiches crashing to the ground.

And the entire studio, including the couple on the red couch, turned to stare at him in absolute shock.

"Who the hell are you, and why the fuck did you just ruin my take?!" a low voice growled as an inherently terrifying man came storming up to him.

"I… M-my name is Roxas… I'm the new intern," he offered, flinching away from the man.

His jaw tightened and he looked the blond up and down. "You were supposed to be here at nine. What're you, stupid? Oh God, I hired a moron…"

Roxas swallowed heavily, shifting his weight back and forth on his feet. "Well, I got stuck in traffic. I've n-never really driven in the city before. I'm s-sorry."

The older man narrowed his eyes on Roxas, staring at him suspiciously for a long moment before breaking the silence again. "Coffee. Two sugars, two creams. Don't make me wait."

"W-wait! Are you Mr. Kane?" he called after him, not even sure if this man was his boss, or if he was just an incredibly cranky employee.

One of the camera men snorted. "That's Xig all right. And you'd better get him his coffee before he kicks your ass out of here."

The new intern spotted the coffee maker on the far wall and hustled towards it, his mind racing with the information he'd just been presented with. He knew that interns were notoriously treated like shit. That was fine, he'd been expecting that. But… the porn industry? Really? They couldn't have put that in their ad?

But it was a job in the field he'd gone to college for, and it paid decently enough that he might just have to overlook it.

…

Axel Marshall wasn't sure if he'd actually been half asleep while fucking this girl, or if he was just really, really bored, but when the ear-splitting crash of the food tray came from the back of the room it scared the living shit out of him. He stopped mid-thrust and pulled his hips backwards, allowing his 10 inch dick to flop free of her pussy and sat back on his knees, scanning the room for the source of the commotion. He squinted through the blinding stage lights, his eyes finally adjusting and settling on a short, awkward looking guy standing frozen near the door with Xigbar approaching him quickly.

"Ugh… Seriously?" the actress in front of him scoffed, letting herself drop from her hands and knees onto her stomach. "We're trying to work here!" she sang in an irritated timbre, shooting a glare in the direction of the new kid.

"Shut the fuck up, Xion…" Axel rolled his eyes, pushing himself onto his feet and grabbing his robe from one of the crew members.

She huffed and rolled herself off the couch and grabbed her own robe, walking off set to grab a bottle of water.

He tied his robe around his waist and grabbed his coffee off a nearby table, nearly gagging as he took a sip and found it ice cold and stale as fuck. "Ugh…" he sneered, tossing it in the trash and moving towards the coffee maker.

"Come on… work, damn it!"

Axel glanced up and snorted a little as his eyes settled on that same blond kid, who was now fighting with the coffee maker.

"It's a Keurig. Haven't you ever used one?" he stepped in beside the intern, clicking the K-cup into place and hitting the correct button. Seconds later, hot coffee was pouring into the cup for him.

The young man nearly jumped out of his skin, whipping around to face the actor. "I… I… N-no. I haven't. Thank you…" he stammered nervously, staring at the floor and refusing to make eye contact with Axel. When the cup was full, he turned back and started to prepare it, noticing that Xigbar was tapping his foot impatiently where he stood.

Roxas had just finished stirring in the cream and sugar when Xigbar prowled up to them and snatched the cup out of his hand like an animal, turning on his heel and stalking away.

"Sorry, kid… Xig can really be a jerk to the interns." As he spoke, Axel's eyes scanned over the man in front of him more closely, taking in all of his features. He was quite attractive, if Axel was being honest. He was small, but he seemed like he had some decent muscle definition. He admittedly had a baby face, but something about it was rather endearing, and Axel quite liked the way his blond hair seemed like it had a mind of it's own. He only wished the kid would look him in the eyes. "Is this your first job in the industry?"

The intern just nodded, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"They, uh… they didn't tell you this was a porn studio, did they?"

At the mention of the word 'porn,' Roxas about choked on thin air. "N-no. No they did not."

"You'll get used to it," Axel told him, leaning casually against the wall beside them and flashing him a suave smile. "Though I don't blame you if you wanna run right back out that door either."

That was when he finally turned those bright blue eyes up to Axel's jade green pair, a determined look on his face. "I need the money. So… I can do this. It's good experience either way."

This blue eyes of his took Axel back for a moment, and he found himself lost for words this time. "I respect that. So how old are you? Eighteen? Nineteen?"

"I'm twenty-two!" the young intern squeaked, stomping his foot on the ground. "Why does everybody think I'm a god damned teenager?!"

Axel smirked, finding this new kid incredibly cute. "Well, you've kind of got a baby face," he pointed out, chuckling softly. "Name's Axel, by the way."

"Roxas," he offered, extending a hand but then quickly retracting it when he remember what Axel spent his morning doing. He probably smelled like pussy. "Are you, uh… in these films often?"

"Pretty much every one that Xigbar directs, yeah. That's the wonderful thing about being bisexual and attractive. You get a lot of work."

Roxas swallowed hard, growing increasingly uncomfortable. "Right…"

"Anyways, don't let Xig scare you. He's harmless, as long as you stay on his good side. Just run his errands and try not to knock anything else over and you're golden," Axel gave his piece of sage advice, grabbing his own coffee from the Keurig.

"Axel! Get your ass back on set!"

The redhead groaned loudly, wishing he could chat with the new guy a bit longer. "I guess that's my cue… I can't wait to be done with this scene. Xion moans like a fucking squeak toy."

While Roxas' eyes widened to the size of saucers, Axel made his way back towards the red couch, disrobing on his way.

"Intern! Get over here and learn something for fuck's sake!" Xigbar barked, summoning the blond to his side.

As Axel readied himself again, he was quite shocked to find himself …ready to go, without much help. It seemed like just being around that intern had been more than enough to get his flag flying all on it's own.

"Damn, Axel… what's got you so excited?" Xion snarked as she dropped her robe and stepped onto set. "Somebody get me some damn lube! I'm drier than the fucking Sahara over here!" she screeched, getting back on her hands and knees.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up as she shrieked, and Axel found his eyes drifting back to that blond, who was hovering around Xigbar just waiting for his next order. There was something about that kid… Axel couldn't remember the last time he was even remotely interested in anyone romantically, but he was actually finding himself compelled to ask him out on a date. Not that relationships were really feasible for somebody in his profession. Not many people would be okay with their significant other making a living off of fucking other people.

"Axel? Hellooo?" Xion waved a hand in front of his face, which just made him want to smack the shit out of her.

"What?!" he barked, causing her to jump a bit.

She raised an eyebrow and fixed him with her bitch stare. "Are you gonna fuck me, or what? Xig's said 'action' like ten times."

"Right… yeah." It took most of his strength to tear his eyes away from the intern, but he somehow managed to focus himself on Xion again.

He threw on his actor face and returned to the scene they were doing, and it was amazing how he could just plaster on a new emotion like that and look like he was loving it. But every so often, he'd catch a little glimpse of blond out in the studio and it would throw him off just a little bit.

Having this kid around going to be very, _very_ difficult.

…

 **A/N:** All right. As you've probably guessed, this is going to be a rewrite of The Internship. I thought I'd put that story to rest a long time ago, but I went through and read it again and… God, some of the shit I wrote just makes me cringe. I know that the first chapter is pretty similar to the original, but I plan on changing some major plot points in the future, so keep an eye out! I promise it'll be even better than the original. I feel like I'm always growing as a writer, so hopefully it shows in this rewrite.

It's good to be back!

 _Simply Rexene_


	2. Two

**Two**

"Here's your lunch, Sir…" Roxas' hands shook slightly as he handed over the fast food bag to Xigbar. He'd gotten stuck in traffic for thirty minutes just trying to get to the damned place, so he better have gotten in right.

The director snatched the bag out of his hands and pawed through it for a minute, quirking an eyebrow. "I'm impressed. You even remembered the malt vinegar packets."

Roxas let out a long sigh of relief, his heart rate finally able to fall back into a normal pace.

"All right, everyone! Break for lunch!" Xig declared, causing the room to break into chaos for a moment as everybody set aside their cameras and clipboards and whatnot, all of them making a mad dash for the door.

The young intern stood in the center of the crowd, looking completely lost. He didn't know how long lunch was, or if they even had a break room in the building or not. Worse came to worse, he could just go sit in his truck for awhile.

"There's a cafeteria down the hall to the right. Big double doors, can't miss it. There's fridges stocked with some pretty decent food for sale. You've got an hour."

He looked up to meet the eyes of one of the sound guys, who he'd seen running around with a boom mike at one point. "Thank you," he exhaled in relief, offering the guy a smile.

"You kind of had that 'deer in the headlights' look going on, so I figured I'd help you out," he chuckled, rifling through an equipment bag. "I'm Marluxia. Marly for short."

Roxas grabbed his extended hand and shook it, looking him up and down. He was quite an odd character, sporting pastel pink hair tugged back into a messy ponytail, and a big scrawling tattoo sleeve going up his right arm of a bunch of cherry blossom branches and flowers. His arms bulged with muscles beneath his black t-shirt, and he was ungodly tall compared to the small blond. Though… everybody seemed to be tall compared to him. "I'm Roxas. And I appreciate the help. I was beginning to wonder if everyone was just a huge asshole around here."

"Oh, we're all dicks," Marluxia snorted, taking his headset off and setting it aside. "But you'll get used to it. We're all one big, happy family here. …Most of the time."

"Xigbar doesn't exactly scream 'happy' to me," Roxas laughed, following Marly out into the hallway.

"His bark is a lot worse than his bite, believe me. Once you're part of the team, he's got your back. Just don't fuck up too bad."

He was so glad to hear that his boss wasn't a total and complete asshole. "Will he ever get tired of the whole 'haze the intern' routine?"

"If you can manage to gain his respect, you're golden. Study him. Learn all of his moves. You'll get his routine down pretty quickly. If you prove to him you can do this job, he'll calm down."

"This isn't exactly the job I was expecting, you know… I mean, I had no idea what kind of studio this was until I got here."

Marluxia smirked, reaching over to unlock the door to the cafeteria. "Yeah, I could tell by the way you destroyed the sandwich tray. I like those breakfast sandwiches! We only get those like once a month!"

"Sorry," he chucked sheepishly, looking around in awe of the huge cafeteria. It was huge, and boxed in completely by glass windows, flooding the room with sunlight. It was rather blinding in contrast to the window-less studio, but it was also gorgeous. "Wow, this place is pretty sweet."

They moved through the line, picking food out of the row of refrigerators. It was stocked with tons of stuff; every drink you could think of, sandwiches, yogurt, salads, fruit, cheese cubes, even hard boiled eggs. Then there was a frozen section with microwave meals. Past the fridges was a dry food section with chips, candy bars, granola bars, nuts, jerky… It was like a grocery store right in the building. At the end there was a kiosk where you could scan everything in and then pay with cash or a card.

"I'm gonna go sit with my friends, but you can join us if you'd like," Marly offered, pointing over to a table of other crew members.

"Nah, I'm just gonna sit by myself and listen to some music. Thanks though," he declined, heading over to an empty table in the corner.

Sitting down with his lunch, Roxas pulled out his iPhone and earbuds, pulling up his favorites playlist. Most of the music was his absolute favorite band, Feigning Destiny.

Out of the corner of his eye, Roxas caught sight of the tall redheaded pornstar as he waltzed into the cafeteria, this time actually wearing clothing for once. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up casually, and on his feet were cherry red Converse that matched his hair.

Trying not to blatantly stare at the admittedly …incredibly attractive man, Roxas focused himself back on his lunch and turned his music up louder. He could not allow himself to get pulled in by the whole 'pretty boy' thing.

Roxas nearly had a heart attack as suddenly one of his earbuds was pulled out of his ear and replaced by a husky voice. "Whatcha listening to?"

"The sound of my racing heart?" His eyes turned up to meet emerald green and he relaxed a little. "Hey, Axel."

Before Roxas could object, the redhead slipped into the seat beside him and put the stolen earbud in his own ear. "Whoa… Heavy metal?"

A dark blush touched his cheeks and he ripped his earbuds out of both of their ears, setting his phone aside. "Yeah, yeah, I know… all they do is scream, it's not music, etcetera, etcetera…" He was more than used to people criticizing his choice in music.

"No, no! I love heavy metal!" Axel backpedaled the conversation, reaching over and snatching his phone. "Feigning Destiny? How come I've never heard of them? They're great."

Roxas slapped at Axel's hands until he surrended his phone, tucking it into his pocket this time. "They're a local band. I'm dating the lead singer."

Axel stared at him for a long moment, seeming almost like he hadn't heard him.

"...What?"

Axel felt like he'd been socked in the chest. Here he was, all goofy over this new intern kid… only to find out he was dating a god damned rockstar. "N-nothing. That's awesome. Where can I find their music?"

"It's on iTunes," the blond shrugged, cracking open his Pepsi bottle.

"I'll download it tonight, then. So how's your first day going?"

Roxas cleared his throat a little. "Well, it definitely wasn't what I was expecting. I mean, I always kind of thought that porn was just half-assed in some guy's house with a couple of cheap cameras."

"We do shoot on location sometimes," Axel shrugged. "But seriously, for the high quality stuff? We might as well be shooting a blockbuster. The kind of stuff we shoot is what people pay big money to see."

"I saw you guys reading through scripts earlier. What's that about? Do you seriously need a script to tell you how to fuck her?"

Axel chuckled under his breath. "I can tell you've only ever seen the free porn clips before. The ones that are just straight fucking and don't include any substance. But those clips are incredibly edited down, and they're made to get someone off fast. The reality is that our films have plots. They have stories. The scene we were shooting earlier? It's part of a much bigger picture."

"...Oh. So… what's the big picture, then?"

"This one is pretty simple. Xion is cheating on her husband with me. Ironic, because she's actually cheating on her husband."

Roxas' eyes widened. "With you?"

"With Xigbar," he smirked, pointing the two of them out on the other side of the cafeteria. Xion was sitting sideways in Xigbar's lap while the two of them ate their lunch, and she was giggling and giving him kisses every so often.

"I… did not expect that. No offense intended here, but what does she see in him? He's got to be twice her age, if not more."

The actor just shrugged his shoulders. "Fuck if I know. She annoys the fuck outta me."

"I can see why. I think I've got hearing impairment from her moaning," Roxas joked, finishing up his sandwich.

"I don't know why people think that's sexy!" Axel exclaimed in agreement, his face lighting up a bit. "She sounds like a damned squeak toy. It's grating!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Straight people. I'll never understand them."

"I'm starting to question my own bisexuality," the redhead laughed, reaching up to fidget with the charm on his necklace a bit. This kid was giving him all of those weird fluttery feelings in his stomach, and he felt like he was back in high school again.

"Het, what's that charm you wear, anyways?"

Axel looked down at his necklace, holding it out so Roxas could see. "It's called a chakram. At least… that's what my parents told me when they gave it to me. I never really got the full story on what it meant before they passed, but I've just always worn it."

"So you lost your parents too… Sorry to hear that. I know what it feels like, and that there's a lot of mystery left behind."

"How old were you when you lost yours?" Axel wondered, already feeling a stronger bond with the kid.

Roxas frowned slightly. "I was seven."

"Thirteen…"

The blond suddenly reached into his shirt, pulling out a charm of his own. One that looked like an older styled key. "It was my brother Sora's. He died in the accident with them."

"Does it… open anything?"

"I don't think that's what it's for, honestly. See how the part here kind of looks like a crown? I don't know what it means, but… it does help me feel closer to him."

Axel wasn't sure how their conversation had taken such a dark turn, but he also didn't really mind talking about it with him. "You lost them all in one accident? That had to have been…"

"Devastating. Yeah. I would have been int he car with them, but I threw a fit because I didn't want to go to a stupid baseball game, so they dropped me off with my grandparents and went without me. Semi rolled them over in an intersection."

"Jesus…" Axel exhaled, running a hand through his messy red locks. "Mine was a freak fire. My dad got me out of the house and went back in for my mom… I never saw either of them again. They still don't know the cause of the fire."

Roxas glanced up, meeting Axel's eyes with a somber look. "Axel, how did you get into this industry?"

The actor was just about to explain when a booming voice echoed through the cafeteria. "Roxas! I need you!"

The blond jumped out of his skin, standing up and quickly gathering up his trash. "Uhm… it was nice talking to you. I'll see you in the studio," he muttered to Axel, tossing everything in the trash bin behind him and following Xigbar out of the cafeteria.

Axel sat back in his seat, lacing his fingers behind his head and sighing softly. If he wasn't careful, he was going to fall for this kid…

…

"All right, we're bringing in Demyx now. Take five to review the script, and we'll get rolling."

Roxas hurriedly handed out scripts to Axel, Xion and Demyx, honestly surprised by how thick they were just for one film. He returned to Xigbar's side, who was talking to one of the cameramen about what angles he wanted to get.

"Roxas, what's your opinion? Should we give Xion a POV camera? Get her filming her facial expressions so we can clip them in?" Xigbar asked him, which slightly surprised the intern.

"Oh… Well, I think in this case we should give Axel and Demyx each one. That way you can get two different angles on her while she, uhm… gets double teamed…"

Xigbar cocked an eyebrow. "I like the way this kid thinks! Get them each a cam, and keep an eye on their feeds so we get some good footage."

They got the scene going, and Roxas actually found himself paying attention this time. Day one, and he was already becoming numb to the sex. It was interesting, how much work actually went into filming something so simple as porn. And if nothing else, it was great experience until he could get into a real studio.

"Xigbar!"

The door to the studio flew open, cracking against the wall loudly. Everybody stopped dead in their tracks, and Roxas was glad that this time it wasn't him causing a commotion. No, this time it was a white-haired man that was storming through the studio, advancing on Xigbar quickly.

"Kane, you fucking piece of shit! I know you're sleeping with my wife!" he bellowed, kicking a stray chair in his path and sending it flying across the room.

"Riku!" Xion exclaimed, shoving Axel and Demyx away from her and running naked across the set to who Roxas assumed was her husband. "Riku, how did you get in here?!"

That was a good question, one easily answered by a quick glance towards the door, where Larxene, the receptionist, stood smirking as she watched the scene unfold. She must have let him in just for a chance to see some drama.

Riku ignored her, growling as he tore Xigbar out of his seat and decked him hard across the face. A collective gasp sounded from the crew, accompanied by a high pitched shriek out of Xion. "Xiggy!"

"How long have you been cheating on me, you bitch?!" Riku turned on her, seething with anger.

"I-I'm not!" she stammered, trying to come up with an excuse. "Come on, Riku! Sex is my job! You know that!"

Riku's jaw clenched tightly. "One of the crew members tipped me off. Fucking other guys on camera is your job. Not fucking the director in his god damned office!"

By that time, Xigbar had pulled himself to his feet and was ready to defend himself. He grabbed Riku by the arm and spun him around, landing an uppercut to his jaw that sent him reeling back. That was when the full on brawl between them started.

The rest of the crew had created a circle around them, keeping their distance and just letting them fight it out. Roxas couldn't believe what was happening. This was definitely one hell of a first day of work.

And then his eyes caught Axel's from across the crowd. The tall redhead stood out from behind the rest of the crew, and instead of watching the fight… the actor was staring right at Roxas. He shifted on his feet a little and offered Axel a nervous smile, but he was so wrapped up in those green eyes that he didn't realize how close Riku had gotten to him.

He was still lost in Axel's gaze when Riku reared his arm back to punch Xigbar again, elbowing him right in the face pretty hard. He yelped in surprise and buckled to his knees, grabbing at his face as he saw blood starting to drip onto the floor.

Axel's eyes widened as he saw Roxas get elbowed in the face, pushing his way through the crew and kneeling down beside the blond. "Fuck… Are you okay, Rox?"

"I'm fine…" Roxas grumbled, swatting Axel away and pulling himself to his feet.

"I used to work as an EMT, just lemme look at it," Axel pressed, standing up and reaching for him.

Roxas just huffed, grabbing a wad of napkins off the coffee bar and blotting at the blood trickling down his face. "I'm fine. Leave me alone."

Axel watched as Roxas stormed out of the room, confused and wondering why Roxas wouldn't let him help. He was numb to the situation around him for a second, but when he heard Xion shriek again everything came rushing back to him and he turned around furiously.

"That's enough!" he yelled, grabbing Riku by the back of his shirt and throwing him in one direction, while shoving Xigbar in the other. "This is a place of work! There are other people here, one of which you've just injured!"

Both men stared at Axel, surprised by his outburst.

"Break this up. Now. Riku, go the fuck home. You and your wife can deal with this on your own time. Xigbar… clean yourself up. We're done filming for today."

With that, Axel turned on his heel and walked right out the door in nothing but his jeans. Normally he would never walk out on a shoot, but he was so thoroughly done with bullshit for the day that he didn't think he'd be able to focus enough to keep filming.

He headed to his dressing room, debating whether or not he should try to find Roxas and check on him. But the blond had been very adamant about not needing help, so he decided to stay out of it. He threw his shirt and shoes back on, snatching up his keys and his phone. He was just in a bad mood now, and only part of it was contributed to the fight. The other part was because he stupidly let himself feel something for this intern. The intern who was taken, who wanted nothing to do with him. The intern he could never have.

Storming out into the hallway, Axel had his nose in his phone checking the time when he plowed directly into somebody. "Watch wehre you're going! Fuck!" he snarled, watching his phone fly out of his hand and slide down the hallway.

"I'm not the one stuck in my phone," a familiar voice snapped, and Axel looked up at who he'd run into.

"Roxas… I'm sorry," he cringed, snatching his phone up and throwing the blond an apologetic look.

He just rolled his eyes. "Does this kind of thing happen a lot around here? Because I don't think I can handle it. I already… I deal with bullshit enough at home, and I can't deal with it here too."

"Roxas, nobody could have predicted that Riku would show up like that. And Larxene is going to be lucky if she doesn't get fired for letting him into the studio. And what is it that you deal with at home?"

"None of your god damned business…" he muttered, checking on the cut on his face. Riku's elbow had busted his skin open right under his right eye.

"Rox, that looks pretty nasty… are you sure you won't let me look at it?"

Roxas just stepped away. "I hardly feel it."

Axel's eyes followed him as he walked down the hall back to the studio. He felt defeated, confused, concerned… He needed to know what was happening to this kid at home.

…

 **A/N:** So much more detail! I'm glad I decided to rewrite this story. I think it's already a billion times better. Stay on your toes! Little details are already changing.

Remember to leave a review! Let me know if you like the new version!

Love you guys!

 _Simply Rexene_


	3. Three

**Three**

"Fucking finally…" Roxas mumbled as his tires crunched up the gravel driveway to his mobile home. He was flooded with relief when he saw his boyfriend's old Buick backed haphazardly into it's normal spot. After the day he had… he needed a hug.

As he approached the trailer, the front door swung open and Vanitas came flying down the steps at him, suctioning him into his arms before he could even say 'hello.' "Roxas! I didn't think I was going to make it home in time to see you after your first day, but we drove like hell to get back and-"

Roxas watched Van's golden eyes widen as he saw the cut on his cheek, and he sighed and stepped past him into the house. "Before you try to murder anybody for me, it was a complete accident."

Van stayed hot on his trail, following him into their home and using his longer legs to cut Roxas off near the kitchen. "Yeah, you aren't getting off that easy. What happened?!"

"I'd rather not talk about it, Van…" he groaned, tapping his foot impatiently. "Can I get by? I'd really like to grab a beer."

As the blond attempted to duck under his arm, Vanitas grabbed him by the shoulders and stared down into his eyes for a long moment. He seemed like he had something to say, but words didn't want to come to him.

"Van?"

The raven-haired musician shook his head as if to clear his mind, loosening his tight grip on his boyfriend. "Go sit down on the couch. I'll bring you a beer and an ice pack, and you can tell me what exactly happened."

Roxas nodded reluctantly and trudged off to the couch, kicking his shoes off on the way before sinking into the worn cushions. Moments later, a cold beer was being shoved into his hand and a wad of icy paper towels made contact with his cheek. "Jesus! Warn a person!" he barked, though he immediately regretted it. "Sorry. Thank you."

"So tell me how an internship with a film director resulted in your face getting busted open?" The elder of the two settled into the recliner in the corner of the room, fixing Roxas with a stern look.

"It's stupid, really… We were shooting a scene and this guy comes flying into the room and attacks the director, who has apparently been sleeping with his wife. They were brawling and I accidentally caught an elbow to the face."

Van snorted in disbelief, cracking the top off his own beer. "What the hell kind of studio do you work at anyways? Meet any movie stars?"

"It's just a low budget kind of thing," Roxas replied hurriedly. "No movie stars, but the actors are pretty decent."

"So how was it besides the fight? Do you like it there?"

Roxas shrugged, taking a swig of his beer. "Well enough. I'll probably stick it out until I can find something better. At least it pays good."

"What exactly do you do?"

"Oh, I'm the director's bitch. I bring him coffee and food, run errands, copy scripts… Though he did let me help find some camera angles during the afternoon shoot."

"Ooh, how thrilling," Van scoffed, gathering a glare from Roxas.

The blond curled up into a ball on the couch, hissing as he pressed the ice pack to his cheek again. "Don't mock my career choice. I was supportive of you when your band was still screeching in your mom's basement."

"I'm not mocking," Vanitas sighed, moving over to sit next to Roxas on the couch. "I'm happy that you're happy. Seriously. If running some asshole's errands makes you happy, more power to ya."

Roxas kicked his legs up onto Van's lap, stretching out a little. "Hey, wasn't your tour supposed to go until the end of the week?"

"Eh, I pulled some strings and got us home early," he shrugged, rubbing his hands over Roxas' calves affectionately."

"...Ventus got you fired again, didn't he?"

Van's face fell. "You know we love that kid, but…"

"But he got wasted and started another fight, didn't he?"

"Yeah, the bar manager tried to short us and he flipped shit. I've never seen someone so small put up such a huge fight. Terra and I just barely peeled him off the guy."

Roxas furrowed his brow. "Hey! Ven and I are like the same size!"

"Smallness must run in your family, then," Van laughed, reaching up to ruffle his messy blond hair.

"Hey, I claim no relation to that train wreck. He might be my cousin by blood, but that's as far as our relation goes. I told you years ago it was a bad idea to recruit him for the band."

"He fuckin' kills at the drums, though…"

Roxas snorted. "A lot of good that does you when he keeps getting you fired."

"Yeah, yeah… wise Roxas, giving us his words of wisdom again. You're the one that managed to get caught in the line of fire of somebody else's fight, so clearly you aren't as bright as you think you are."

He laughed and leaned forward to whack Van on the arm. "Shut up. I learned my lesson. Next time, duck behind the closest camera guy and use him as a human shield."

"Come here." Van grabbed for him, pulling his boyfriend over to lay against him. "I missed you…"

Roxas settled against him, a question nagging at the back of his mind. "I missed you too, babe. And, uh… did you take your meds today? I only ask 'cause sometimes when you're on tour things get crazy and you forget…"

He felt Van tense a bit beneath him. "Yeah, I remembered. Just like yesterday and the day before that, too."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine. Hey, why don't I make us some mac and cheese or something? We can just hang out and watch Netflix all night."

"Sounds good." Roxas turned his head for a quick kiss before Van wiggled out from under him and headed for the kitchen. "And maybe another beer?" he called after him. He was going to need it.

…

Axel tossed his keys on the table in his foyer, juggling his Chinese takeout in one arm and a jumbo Polar Pop in the other as he kicked his front door shut. "Honey, I'm home…" he mumbled, rolling his eyes at the dead silence he was greeted with.

He was still in quite a bad mood from the scene earlier today. That poor intern kid getting decked in the face… and then refusing to let him help! He was stubborn, and irritating, and… and he was really fucking cute. And Axel couldn't remember the last time he was this attracted to somebody.

Grabbing his drink and food, he cleared a spot at his desk and flipped his computer on, pulling up iTunes and downloading the full discography of Feigning Destiny. Their earlier work was pretty rough, but the evolution of the band through their three albums was breath-taking. The drummer just killed it on every single song, and the bass lines had his heart thumping and adrenaline pumping. And the vocals… Axel had never heard one vocalist give such amazing cleans and such deep, intense unclean vocals. They reminded him of one of his favorite underappreciated bands, SycAmour.

In the meantime, with their newer stuff playing in the background, he logged on to the one site that had been keeping him sane for the past couple of years. It was a fetish site where people with …unusual kinks… could chat with each other under the ruse of a character they've created. It was made for them to roleplay with each other. To build stories together, often of a sexual nature.

But due to the overtly sexual nature of his day job, Axel mostly used it to chat with people. People who had no idea that he was a famous porn star. People that were, quite honestly, probably watching one of his videos while chatting with him. But the anonymity was comforting to him.

Why the sexual nature of the site he'd chosen? Simple. He was good at sex. Sex was what he was comfortable with, what he knew. Talking about sex was, to him, like having a conversation about the weather. And he enjoyed chatting with people that didn't get offended by that.

…

 **Michael Owen:** Hey Lea. How's it going?

 **Lea Flynn:** It's going, I guess. How're you?

 **Michael Owen:** Ha! You wouldn't believe the day I had.

 **Lea Flynn:** Oh really? Care to elaborate?

 **Michael Owen:** Actually… I really don't. I'd honestly love to forget it ever happened.

 **Lea Flynn:** Gotcha. Well, we could always set up a scene. We can both forget today.

 **Michael Owen:** Oooh. I could get into that. What'd you have in mind?

…

Axel grinned as devious thoughts for roleplay flooded through his mind, and he was glad his friend was around to chat with. He didn't know much about the guy, or if it even was a guy he was chatting with, but he had a fun personality and he was really good at roleplaying. Finding a decent, literate person was so difficult.

A couple of hours later, Michael was gone and Axel was left feeling quite empty and a little bit horny. Roleplay usually wouldn't get him too worked up. He was too numb to sex to really find it satisfying. But for some reason, every scene he did with Michael fired him up a bit.

Throwing out his empty Chinese cartons and his cup, he lifted himself from his chair and made his way to his shower. He had fancy Bluetooth speakers installed all around his bathroom, so he pulled up his newly downloaded music on his phone and soon surrounded himself with the sounds of pulsing water and metal music.

Stripping down, he stepped under the waterfall head of the shower and let out a loud sigh, feeling hot water hit him from different angles. He was so glad he'd fully renovated the bathroom in his house. After all, the bedroom and bathroom were probably where most of his time was spent throughout the day.

And there he was, thinking about Roxas again. He wasn't even showering, just standing under the water, his mind churning with thought. He shouldn't be thinking about this kid. He was 35 years old. That put him 13 years older than Roxas. This could be considered some form of creepy pedophilia, couldn't it? Everything about his attraction to the intern was just _wrong_. And even if they were closer in age, he's taken! There was no world in which they could be together… So why couldn't he get him off his damned mind?

Now he really felt like a dirty pervert, because the thought of that cute blond was causing him to grow increasingly hard by the second. And soon he was dealing with a raging erection the likes of which he hadn't seen outside of the studio in a very long time. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd masturbated off camera. This kid walked into his life and suddenly he felt like a horny 15 year old all over again.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?" he growled as he wrapped a hand around his shaft. It almost felt strange to him to touch himself, and it was less than satisfying. The more he stroked himself and the closer to orgasm he got, the more frustrated he became with himself. But then… then he leaned back against the wall of the shower and imagined that it was Roxas' hand on him, and a smile tugged at his lips.

Roxas looked like he'd have rough hands. Like he knew what hard work was. And Axel was almost 100% sure that he was hiding some serious muscles under his clothing. He'd been wearing a navy blue dress shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows, and a pair of dark jeans that made his ass look amazing. Axel would never forget how tightly that denim hugged his ass in all the right ways. And he'd seen some tattoos trying to peek free of his shirt on his forearms, which only made Axel ever so curious what the kid looked like without his shirt on. He didn't seem like the tattoo type on first glance, but Axel could see that little "bad boy" streak in him. Deep down, beyond those baby blue eyes, Roxas had substance. He had struggles, he had stories… And fuck if Axel didn't want to just sit down with him and explore all those dark and twisty places of his mind. He wanted to discover this young blond.

"Nngh…" A low groan sounded from his throat as he suddenly came. He'd been so lost in his thoughts about the intern that he'd almost forgotten what he was doing. "Good God…" He looked down at the mess on his hand and his eyes widened for a second. He'd already cum three times on set that day, so seeing that much was quite shocking.

He cleaned himself up and finished his shower, but his mind continually drifted to other thoughts about Roxas. He began to wonder silly thing, like how tall he was or whether he could sing. How many friends he had in high school. If he played any sports, if his eyes were really that fucking blue. How could eyes possibly be that blue?

But then he was just growing frustrated again, that he was so wrapped up in this person. This person that, until today, he never knew existed. Was this what love at first sight was? If so, the universe was playing a cosmic joke on him. Putting someone in front of him that he wouldn't be able to resist, but making him young and taken.

"Fuck…" he growled, gritting his teeth as he turned off the water. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to the cool tile of the shower wall. "Fuck!" An exclamation tore from his throat as his fists thumped against the wall in irritation. He needed to figure out how to rid himself of all these desires.

…

"Come on… get off the computer…" Vanitas whined, wrapping his arms around Roxas as he sat in his desk chair. "I told you I'd give you an hour since you're hurting, but it's been almost two."

"Van, we just watched like four episodes of our show. You can't spare me for two hours?"

The dark-haired man slumped over his boyfriend, letting his chin rest on top of his head. "You're just talking to your pervert friends again anyways. You like them better than me." He gave Roxas his best pouty voice, his hands sliding down to rub over his arms.

"One, you know that isn't true. And two… I know that voice. You're horny, and you want me to pay attention to you," the blond smirked, saying a quick goodbye to his friend and logging out. He turned around in his chair, raising an eyebrow up at his partner. "Fine. But I'm not blowing you."

Van laughed, pulling Roxas out of his chair and tugging him into their bedroom. "I see how it is. All right... no blow job, but maybe that little thing you do with your fingers that feels fucking amazing?"

"I suppose I could…" Roxas joked, rolling his eyes sarcastically and giving Van a devilish little smile.

But the smile he wore wasn't genuine. Nothing could supress the nagging resistence in the back of his mind. Because sleeping with Vanitas was something he no longer found joy in. In fact, it seemed more like a chore than anything. As sexy as he found his rockstar boyfriend, the truth of the matter was that Van was terrible at sex. Just… bad. He always had been, and Roxas hoped and hoped for so many years that one day he might get better at it. Or at least that he'd care enough to try. To learn.

Life didn't always work out the way he wanted it to, though. More often than not, life just kicked him in the nuts and kept on moving. So he'd grin and bear it. The painful foreplay, the sloppy, weird kissing, the way he seemed to just hit all the wrong spots on the way in. Because he loved Vanitas more than anything.

At least that night he was nice Van. Nice Van at least cared a little bit about how Roxas felt. It was always a crap shoot who would be joining him in bed every night. Whether he'd get sloppy, weird kisses or a hand wrapped around his neck.

"Mm… I love you so much baby…"

Roxas stared up into Van's eyes and blinked back his emotions. "Yeah, Van… I love you too."

…

 **A/N:** I really feel like this version is already ten millions times better. I know this was a bit of a slow chapter, but I'm hoping the detail makes up for it. I have so much more planned for this story than last time and I'm very excited. I know I've been slower to update, but it's because more thought it going into everything.

Please leave a review! Let me know how you like the new story! I'm nothing without you guys.

 _Simply Rexene_


	4. Four

**Four**

It had been two weeks since the blond intern had made his noisy entrance at the studio, and in two weeks Axel hadn't been able to get him off his mind. He gave Roxas the space he so obviously wanted, and moved through each day hoping beyond all hope that maybe distancing himself would bring the kid back to him. It was like dealing with a scared animal. Every time the redhead even looked his direction, Roxas would recoil like he'd been bitten by a snake.

As he pulled into the parking lot early one Monday morning, he spotted that massive pickup truck squeezed into two spots in the very back corner again. Lately he'd been forgoing his own VIP spot and parking his red Ferarri among the sea of "just average" cars, save for Xigbar's Range Rover that sat near the back entrance with exactly zero cars surrounding it. The crew knew that if he found even the smallest knick on that SUV that it'd be all their asses.

He managed to back himself into the smallest of spaces, though getting his door open was a bit of a struggle. It was while he sucked in his ribs and slipped out of the car that he smelled it. He knew a lot of his coworkers smoked, so it was hardly alarming to him to smell a cigarette lit nearby. But when he looked back up at that big, black beast of a truck… the air was sucked from his lungs.

Sitting in his truck with his arm hanging out of the open window was Roxas, a cigarette casually dangling between his fingers. Axel had to double take and make sure it was really him. But he knew those hands. He'd studied them. Every time Roxas handed him a script, or worked the coffee machine. Every time he saw him in the cafeteria flipping through his phone. Axel longed to know what those hands felt like. If they were rough, yet soft like he imagined. He'd spent a lot of time imagining those hands… But none of his fantasies ever involved them holding a cigarette.

Wanting to keep his distance, but also keep tabs on the kid, Axel pulled out his phone and leaned against the hood of his car, pretending to look something else. Just a couple of minutes later, he saw Roxas flick his cigarette butt to the pavement and swing his door open. But the person that emerged could barely be considered Roxas.

A dark black combat boot was the first thing Axel saw, crushing the discarded cigarette as the blond hopped down out of his truck. Along with the boots were a pair of black jeans that fit him just perfectly, haphazardly stuffed into the loosely-laced shoes. The kid staggered a few steps and came into better view of the tall redhead, who was genuinely concerned by his appearance. In the middle of spring, he was wearing a long sleeved dark purple shirt and a thick black scarf around his neck. It would be a pretty average look for the fall and winter months, but it had to be 72 degrees that morning already. Instead of what he assumed were contacts, the kid was now wearing thick, black framed glasses that dulled the shine of his baby blue eyes. Even more unnerving, the usually clean-shaven intern was sporting a scruffy dark blond beard, and it was clear that he probably hadn't shaved since Friday morning.

Something was wrong, and Axel wasn't going to be able to let it go until he found out what.

As the kid breezed by him like he didn't exist, Axel pushed himself from the hood of his car and scrambled to catch up with him. "Hey Roxas. Have a good weekend?" He opted for the safe conversation starter, figuring that 'hey, what the fuck?' wouldn't go over quite as well.

"Sure." The intern was barely audible, and his voice sounded quite hoarse.

"That's good. Did you do anything interesting…?"

Roxas kept his head down, starting to walk a bit faster, but his legs were way too short to outrun Axel. "No. I just stayed home."

"Ah. Me too." The redhead cleared his throat, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "So… I didn't know you smoked."

"Now you do."

Axel snarled a little, getting frustrated with Roxas shutting him down. "Is everything okay? Aren't you kinda warm in all that?" he pressed on, trying to get even a scrap of information out of the kid.

"There's AC inside. And I get cold easily."

As Roxas reached out to scan his ID and get into the building, Axel suddenly darted in front of him and slapped his hand over the sensor. "No. Talk to me. Roxas, I've only known you for two weeks, but even I can tell that this isn't normal for you. Last week you showed up wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and I've never seen you take a smoke break before. So I'll ask again. Is everything okay?"

Roxas turned his eyes up to the redhead and met him with a look that could melt the skin off his bones, even from behind his glasses. "Leave me the fuck alone," he growled under his breath, gripping Axel's wrist and forcing his hand away from the sensor. He knew the kid had muscle, but he was still shockingly strong.

Axel stumbled to the side, and before he could say another word the heavy door was slamming behind the kid and leaving him standing in the parking lot by himself. He yanked his ID out of his pocket and scanned himself into the building, but the blond was already out of sight.

He was dumbfounded that this was the same person who had wandered into the studio two weeks ago, scared and innocent. There was so much more to this guy than met the eye, and all Axel wanted to do was crack through his shell and find out more about him.

…

Days went by, and each one had Roxas looking more and more rundown. His wardrobe remained the same; long sleeves and scarves and heavy boots. His beard was filling in quite thickly, and it was darker than Axel would have expected for such a blond person. And those blond locks were getting quite scruffy. It was clear he wasn't using product in his hair anymore, and he looked like he'd skipped his regular haircut.

Axel sat in the cafeteria Friday morning during a break, far enough from Roxas not to look suspicious, but close enough to keep an eye on him. He was obsessed. He needed to know what the kid was hiding. He'd turned down the air conditioning in the building on purpose, and now he was just waiting for him to slip up. He could see Roxas fidgeting with his sleeves while he flipped through his phone, like he was resisting the urge to roll his sleeves up. Occasionally he'd tug at his scarf a little, trying to fan himself with the material without exposing his neck.

All of the possibilities of what he could be hiding were running through Axel's head, and none of them were comforting in the least. Was he harming himself? Was he being abused? Something was keeping him from showing skin, and he needed to know what. Enough was enough.

And then he saw it. Just for a second, Roxas pulled the scarf away enough to show off a dark purple bruise on his neck. Axel was breathless for a moment as his stomach sank and bile rose in his throat. He stood up from his seat quickly and ducked into the hallway, breathing heavily as he fought off a small panic attack. He never thought it would be that bad. He'd only seen a small part of the bruise, but it was fresh and dark and looked so, so painful.

He jumped out of his skin as the cafeteria door slammed open right next to him, surprised to see the intern fly past him and pace just a couple steps down the hall before stopping. "I told you to stop calling me at work," Axel heard him hiss into his phone, which was pressed to his ear with a strong hand. "No. No! I'm not going to tell anybody! Just go to sleep, Van! Sleep it off! You're fucking useless when you're like this! And take your God damned pill!"

Axel stood frozen in the hallway as he watched Roxas hang up his phone and growl in frustration. The blond's back was turned to him, and it was obvious that he had no idea he wasn't alone.

"God fucking fuck!" Roxas exclaimed, clearly resisting the urge to throw his phone down the hallway.

The redhead was moving before he realized it, and he grabbed Roxas by the elbow from behind. "Roxas. Come to my dressing room. Now."

He immediately felt all of the smaller man's muscles tense beneath his grip, and Roxas tore his arm away. "Fuck off."

But Axel was done with it. He wasn't playing games anymore. He grabbed him again and tightened his grip, starting to drag him down the hall towards his dressing room. He continued to put up a fight, but Axel just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah… you've got muscles. So do I."

He all but flung the boy into his dressing room and stepped inside, slamming the door shut and locking it behind him. "Take off your scarf."

"Like hell!" the kid barked, regaining his posture and folding his arms across his chest stubbornly.

Axel grit his teeth hard, trying not to completely lose his temper. "Take. Off. The scarf."

"Why do you care?"

The actor threw his hands up in the air, chuckling sarcastically. "Why do I care? Fuck if I know! You've been nothing but a jerk to me since you showed up here, yet I can't seem to get you out of my head! What happened to the guy I met on your first day? Huh? What happened to the guy that I shared one of my most personal stories with?"

"Maybe you judged me a little early." The bitter reponse was accompanied with a slight waver to the blond's voice.

"No. Something happened. You got socked in the eye and suddenly everything was different. You were cold to me. Please just tell me what's going on!"

Roxas stared into Axel's eyes for a long moment, clearly not ready to back down. "You would never understand."

"Let me try," he pleaded, stepping forward. "I thought… I thought we could be friends, Roxas. I don't feel connected to people often, and when I do… it's hard to ignore."

It took another excruciating pause, but eventually the look in those gorgeous blue eyes softened. "Don't overreact."

Axel nodded, keeping his eyes locked on the scarf. "I won't."

With a heavy sigh, Roxas hesitantly reached up and unwrapped the scarf from his neck. Bit by bit, the bruise was revealed until Axel could clearly see that it was the shape of a large handprint wrapped around his throat. He swallowed heavily, unable to tear his vibrant green eyes from the mark.

And then he moved to the sleeves of his dark orange shirt and began to push them up to his elbows, revealing matching handprint bruises wrapped around both of his wrists.

"Who?" It was the only word that Axel could force out of his mouth, laced with venom.

"Van." Roxas shifted his weight back and forth anxiously.

Of course it was the boyfriend. It was always the boyfriend.

"Axel, I-"

"How long has he been abusing you?"

"No, no, no. It's not like that," the blond immediately backpedaled, crossing the room to sit down on the couch. "He's not abusive."

Axel moved to stand in front of him, feeling completely sick to his stomach. "Roxas, you don't just 'accidentally' grab someone that hard. It looks like he tried to murder you, for God's sake. That's abuse."

"Sit down," Roxas told him, patting on the couch beside him. "I promise I'll explain."

He sat down beside the kid and turned to look him in the eyes again. "Please do."

"Van is bipolar. Most of the time, he's wonderful. Hell… when he's on his meds, he's a contender for the perfect boyfriend. But if he forgets them for even one day, he has these manic episodes, and…"

"And tries to kill you?"

Roxas tensed, picking at his nails nervously. "This is going to sound really stupid…"

"Try me."

"He likes to get aggressive in the bedroom. Which usually, I like. But when he doesn't take his medication it's like he doesn't know when to stop. He holds me down, grips too tight…"

Axel tried to hide the shock on his face. "He did that to you while you were having sex? Why don't you just say no?"

"I tried to. That's when this happened." Shifting on the couch, Roxas lifted up the hem of his shirt and showed Axel a lighter, but still nasty looking bruise on his ribcage.

Once he'd torn his eyes away from the kid's 6-pack, Axel cleared his throat and looked back up at him. "Th-that's… you know that's rape, right? If you said no even once, it's rape."

"It's not like that, Axel. I love him. Like I said before, most of the time… he's the perfect boyfriend."

Axel had seen it happen before. Someone will love their partner so much that they don't even see the dysfunction in their relationship. It becomes normal to them, and they'll even defend it, knowing that it's not right. "What, so every once in awhile you just have to tolerate the pain? Is it really worth it?"

"I want to spend my life with him, Axel. I know that you don't understand it, but he's my person. We've been together since high school. And he can't help it. If I left him because of this disease… It's like breaking up with someone because they have cancer. I'd be an asshole if I abandoned him over this."

"I know that's what you believe, Roxas, but life isn't supposed to be like this. Life doesn't have to be this hard for you. If he can't manage to take his meds every day... isn't that on him? There's no magic cure for cancer, but there's a drug that can control his disease. Shouldn't he want to do that for you?"

Roxas scoffed. "So he forgets sometimes! I'm supposed to leave him because he occasionally gets scatter brained? I forget to do things all the time. I can't hold him to a higher standard than I hold myself. It's not fair."

"I'm not going to sit here and list all of the reasons why this is wrong." Axel stood up and crossed the room, grabbing a bottle of water from his mini-fridge. "Is he still off his meds?"

"Yeah, and me pushing him to take them doesn't help. He usually hits rock bottom after a few days and takes them himself."

He turned back to face the blond and stared at him for a moment. "Come stay with me tonight."

"Excuse me?" He cocked an eyebrow curiously, meeting Axel's eyes.

"You shouldn't have to go home to that, and I've got a million spare rooms at my house. Just crash at my place tonight."

Roxas shook his head, lifting himself from the couch and heading for the door. "I can't… He would be so pissed."

"That's why you should," Axel shrugged, handing over his scarf so he could hide that bruise again. "Let him wonder where you are for a night. Maybe then he'll take his pill."

The offer sounded amazing to the sore intern. Sleeping in a bed by himself was just about the most inviting thing he could think of at the moment. "One night. Are you sure you don't mind?"

Axel stripped his shirt off, knowing they'd need to get to the studio soon. "It was my idea, dork. I'm not going to rescind it on you."

"All right. I'll shoot him a text later, let him know I'm staying at a friend's." His hand hovered over the doorknob, and he couldn't bring himself to leave yet. "Axel… I'm sorry. For shutting you out."

"Just don't do it again and we're square," the redhead chuckled, shrugging his jeans down his hips and kicking them away.

Roxas hesitated again. "I guess I just don't get why some famous pornstar is even remotely interested in my life. I'm just some average nobody trying to get by."

"I don't meet a lot of people like you in this industry. It's refreshing. You're real, and genuine, and… don't think even for a second that you're just average."

The slightest smile touched Roxas' lips and he flipped the lock on the door before pushing it open. "Thank you, Axel. I'll see you at lunch."

Stepping into the hallway, the intern had to take a moment to process what had just happened. Roxas had never been particularly good at the whole "friend" concept, so it was very foreign to have someone looking out for him like Axel did. He didn't understand it, but the butterflies he was feeling in his stomach only proved further how much he liked it.

…

 **A/N:** I think this one was pretty similar to it's original counterpart, though I tried to pack in as much detail as I could manage this time around. I think from here forward I'll really be shaking things up!

 **Update:** I realized I screwed up the timeline a little in the last part, so I made a change. They were hanging out in the cafeteria on a break in the morning, not at lunch quite yet.

Remember to leave me a review! Love you guys!

 _Simply Rexene_


End file.
